I found the Baltimore Oriole’s nest empty today when I went out for a walk. But in the thicket of trees alongside where the nest is, I heard much Oriole calling. It was dark in the thick tangle of branches, so at first I thought it was the parents celebrating their freedom.

But after setting my camera’s exposure compensation to 0.03, the photo above is what I saw – the father Oriole with a fledgling, mouth wide open begging for food or to be returned to the nest. Note its little claw gripping the twig.

Between visits from its father it would hop from branch to close branch, sometimes with a little flutter of its wings.

It’s astonishing to me that its markings are so vivid so soon. I’m guessing this is a female based on her duller color. Though this might simply be the color of a new Oriole.

The father Oriole continues to bring food to the young. And what you see above, I observed toward the end of the babies’ stay in the nest. It seems the parents stand back from the young, encouraging them to step out, or flap their wings to move closer to the parent. There were times yesterday and the day before when I would be concerned that the young would tumble right out of the nest. The parent stayed so far away as it offered food, the young would come right up out of the nest, wings open and then the parent would put the food in the young’s beak. I think it’s all part of the preparation for independence.

In the image above, you can almost hear the young say, “You are coming back, right Dad? Right?”

And as the father flies off, the young stands solidly on a perch.